And so goes the storyline of RANSOM, the latest movie by filmmaker Tim (CREEP) Ritter that stars renowned cult actor Joel (WICKED GAMES) Wynkoop. And where do you find this upcoming flick that should be out in early 1997? \"It\'s part of the ALIEN AGENDA series,\" said Ritter in a recent interview. \"It\'s Kevin Lindenmuth\'s latest venture. Three feature-length movies that spotlight different filmmakers and locales that intertwine with a bigger picture---his alien invasion story. Kevin\'s contributing quite a bit to the films himself.\" RANSOM will be included in ALIEN AGENDA VOLUME II: ENDANGERED SPECIES. The thirty minute segment will be one of the last stories that help endcap the first trilogy. The ALIEN AGENDA series deals with the subtle invasion of warring aliens and how they fight each other while attempting to rule Earth. Each storyline builds on this theme while bringing new elements to the picture. The twelve day shoot, which is quite a shoot considering Ritter\'s own feature-length movie KILLING SPREE took 12 days to shoot, looks to be pretty impressive. \"This is an action piece, said actor Wynkoop, whom you may not recognize in his post-apocalyptic garb of long hair, sunglasses, and trenchcoat. \"There\'s fight scenes, stabbings, chases, and one scene where I fight a mutated alligator. It\'s like a low-budget ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.\" Special effects are numerous in the ALIEN AGENDA series, including aliens, spacecrafts, and gore effects. It also features a mutated alligator created by filmmaker Marcus Koch and his effects team. The head alone is over four feet long, and it looks very mean with rows of jagged teeth and a maw which opens wide enough to fit a large animal inside! \"Lesha did a nice job for us,\" commented Ritter. \"She has that \'waif\' look that was important for this role. Her character looks and acts very much like the Ruby role in Wes Craven\'s HILLS HAVE EYES flick. That\'s where the inspiration for her came from.\" One in-joke that RANSOM viewers will notice is that heroWynkoop\'s sunglasses never come off. He always has them on no matter what. \"It\'s kind of like Indiana Jones\' hat,\" commented Wynkoop on this issue. \"His hat never flies off in all those fight scenes. We also theorized that maybe it somehow could tie into THEY LIVE. Maybe my character can see the alien invasion with these glasses, so he never wants to take them off!\" RANSOM was shot guerilla-filmmaking style with no permits or insurance. This resulted in many confrontations with police and authorities, according to Ritter. \"It was fun going back to the roots of filmmaking, just grabbing the equipment and doing it. But it\'s dangerous. Joel almost got shot by police in a state park. They thought he was a vagrant forcing us to film his suicide on video! They also had a cell phone call that my tripods were rifles! Florida is a very paranoid state. Everyone wants to see that film permit!\" The ALIEN AGENDA series looks to be an exciting new entry on the independent scene. In addition to Lindenmuth and Ritter. viewers can also expect to find work from other independents like Mick McCleery, Scooter McCrae, Ron Ford, Ron Bonk, and Gabriel Campisi in the three volumes. So keep an eye out for this new series.. for the invasion has already begun!